California: U.S. judge to review Toyota case discovery plan
SANTA ANA, California (AP) — A federal judge in Southern California will review a plan to share information in the sprawling litigation involving alleged defects in some Toyota vehicles.
A hearing Tuesday before U.S. District Judge James Selna will focus on the first phase of discovery where attorneys for both the plaintiffs and the Japanese automaker can begin exchanging documents and taking depositions.
The plan, agreed upon by both sides, would give a 100-day window for the process if Selna approves it.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against Toyota in state and federal court after the automaker began its recall because of acceleration problems in several models and brake glitches with the Prius hybrid.
New York: Man’s Facebook ownership claim lands in court
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Lawyers for Facebook are expected in federal court in Buffalo, where a New York man has filed a lawsuit claiming part ownership of the social network site.
Paul Ceglia (SIG’-lee-uh) of Wellsville is suing Facebook based on a 2003 contract he says he signed with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ceglia claims the contract to develop software and a website that eventually became Facebook entitles him to 84 percent ownership.
Facebook’s attorneys, in court filings, question why Ceglia waited seven years to come forward. They call his claim “outlandish.”
A state Supreme Court justice earlier this month signed a temporary restraining order preventing Facebook from transferring assets. The case has since moved to federal court, where Facebook argued against the order Tuesday.
Virginia: Judge tosses charge in mall shooting incident
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A judge has thrown out a weapons charge against a former J.C. Penney Co. security guard accused of firing a gun at a suspected shoplifter outside a Roanoke mall.
Roanoke Circuit Court Judge Clifford Weckstein said Monday that Virginia law allows deadly force during a citizen’s arrest if the person making the arrest believes a felony has occurred.
Dler Anwar Anwar was indicted in May on a misdemeanor charge of recklessly handling a firearm. The 34-year-old Roanoke man was accused of firing a gun during a pursuit of a fleeing shoplifting suspect outside the Valley View Mall.
Maine: Man’s statement in mom’s death admitted
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A Maine judge has ruled that a Monmouth man’s statement after his mother’s killing will be admissible at his murder trial.
Forty-four-year-old Kenneth McDonald is charged in death of his 80-year-old mother in August 2009. Police say Janice McDonald died of multiple sharp force trauma.
The Kennebec Journal reports Tuesday that McDonald, who’s pleaded not guilty, allegedly told his sister, “I screwed up bad this time” when she asked him about the slaying of their mother.
Superior Court Justice Michaela (mick-KAIL-uh) Murphy ruled last week that the statement was voluntary and is admissible at McDonald’s trial, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 30.
New Hampshire: State Supreme Court rejects Addison appeal
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court has upheld convictions against cop killer Michael Addison in an unrelated case involving a Hudson convenience store robbery.
Addison, who fatally shot Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in October 2006 when Briggs tried to arrest him on robbery charges, has been sentenced to death. He had appeals pending in three separate county cases.
Addison had been convicted of armed robbery and conspiracy in 2007. At that time, he had been indicted in the Briggs shooting.
The court ruled 5-0 on Tuesday that a judge’s mention of the indictment to prospective jurors and the inclusion of several remarks Addison made before the robbery did not prejudice the case.
California: Pro-union law struck down by appeals court
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Sacramento appeals court says California’s union-backed 1975 law allowing labor picketing outside stores is unconstitutional because it requires property owners to host speakers they disagree with.
Courts have allowed picketing and political activity outside shopping malls, saying they are exercising freedom of speech.
The Third District Court of Appeal ruled Monday in favor of a Ralphs Grocery-owned Foods Co market in Sacramento, which was in a dispute with the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The union picketed five feet outside the market.
The appeals court agreed with Ralphs that the law was invalid because it singled out union speech for special protection.
Wisconsin: Justices uphold ex-Jesuit priest’s conviction
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a sexual abuse conviction of a former Jesuit priest who claimed he was falsely accused.
In a 7-0 ruling on Tuesday, justices ruled that Donald McGuire’s prosecution 36 years after he allegedly abused two teenage boys in the 1960s was fair.
McGuire, a former spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa and her religious order of nuns, argued the delay hurt his ability to defend himself. Justices disagreed.
The men came forward in 2003 to report they were abused by McGuire during trips to a cottage in Fontana, Wis. in 1967 and 1968. At the time, McGuire taught the boys at the Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill.
McGuire was convicted on five counts of indecent behavior with a child. He is serving a 25-year prison term on separate, federal charges.
Connecticut: Eminent domain case may go to Supreme Court
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Lawyers for a Connecticut developer say they’ll ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a state Supreme Court ruling that overturned a $12.4 million jury verdict it won in an eminent domain case.
New England Estates LLC sued the town of Branford after the local government used eminent domain laws in 2003 to seize 77 acres land the developer wanted to buy to build condominiums.
The town cited potential contamination from a nearby landfill and plans for athletic fields.
A jury found in favor of Watertown-based New England Estates in 2007. But the state Supreme Court ruled in February that the developer lacked standing because it didn’t own the land.
The New Haven Register reported Tuesday that the developer is taking the case to the nation’s highest court.
